Abomasal Bloat in Lambs & Kids

Causes and Symptoms:

Undesirable bacteria in the stomach (abomasum) feed on lactulose in the milk and produce gas.
When the stomach receives are large hit of milk/lactulose, the bacteria feed quickly and a gas bloat occurs.
The stomach expands like a balloon, which can rupture, or crush adjacent organs.
The lamb/kid will have a large, distended abdomen, potentially on both left and right side behind the rib cage.
Animals can be slow to get up and walk around, or not want to feed at all or only in small amounts.
The condition is not seen in naturally reared lambs/kids who drink small amounts continuously throughout the day.
There are other causes of bloat, which are often more severe, so it is important to seek veterinary advice as soon as possible.

Feeding 10-15% of their body weight (adjust as they grow) divided into small feeds throughout the day.
The teat when held upside down should drip milk, but not flow. Cracked and damaged teats can lead to quick flow.
The bacteria involved is not yet proven, there are strong links to clostridia bacteria, which are covered by vaccinating from 2 weeks of age.
Offer creep feed which is highly digestible grain from 5 days old to help the stomach adjust to ‘grown up’ food.
Feeding lambs on whey based milk replacer instead of whole milk. The whey based product should not promote abomasal bloat and can help promote early rumen development if lambs have access to good quality lamb pellet or hard feed.
Feeding yoghurtised milk at every feed is the only proven method of prevention.
- probiotics prevent pathogens multiplying by providing competition to bad bacteria.
- prebiotics stimulate ‘good bacteria’.
- yoghurt contains more probiotics than milk. These good bacteria provide a stable microenvironment that prevents pathogens from colonizing and multiplying in the gut.
- yohgurt also contains prebiotics which stimulate the growth of good bacteria.

Add 1kg of milk powder to 3L of warm water in a large 9L bucket. Mix well with an electric blender.
Add 200ml of plain, unsweetened acidophilus yoghurt (from the supermarket). Mix and place a lid over the top and sit it in a hot cupboard for 12-24 hours. Or a polystyrene box with a hot water bottle works well.
NOTE – if your lamb is recovering from bloat, keep it on electrolytes until the first batch is ready at 12 hours.
At this stage the milk should look and smell like yoghurt. Remove 200ml to set aside in the fridge. This is your starter for the next batch (otherwise you’ll have to buy more yoghurt).
Mix well. The yogurtised milk is now ready to feed at normal quantities. It will last for 5 days but should be kept in the fridge to prevent growing unwanted bacteria.
You can dilute the mixture a little to make it easier to drink (or make the teat hole a little larger) but be sure to feed the original volume as that of the standard milk replacer.
Remember to start your next batch 24 hours before it is needed.
If feeding only a handful of lambs, add 1tbsp of acidophilus yoghurt per 500ml of cow’s milk or reconstituted powder just before feeding and mix well.